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Can someone help me determine if this sentence is correct:

Though Jerry is too shy, he walked out on stage as cool as cucumber and sang like he had been doing it all his life.

I am kind of confused about the first part, using "too shy".

Thanks in advance! :)

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    It's an unusual but not altogether improper use of the word "too". Normally "too" would imply that his shyness passed the level that would allow said activity (and hence he would have been unable to sing). But "too" can mean simply "extremely", especially when spoken with emphasis.
    – Hot Licks
    Jun 9, 2017 at 12:38
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    What I think is that it should start with "Though Jerry is very shy,...." because if too was to be used I think it should be "Though Jerry is too shy to go upstage" or something that can help connect Jerry is too shy to (what).
    – Anonymous
    Jun 9, 2017 at 12:42
  • Where exactly does your confusion lie? Jun 9, 2017 at 14:13

2 Answers 2

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No, the sentence is not correct because of the incongruity in verb tenses:

Though Jerry is too shy, he walked out on stage as cool as cucumber and sang like he had been doing it all his life.

Whether Jerry is shy (now or by nature) has no bearing on how he performed in that particular moment in the past. More importantly, Jerry may not be shy now, but he certainly was shy at that point in time.

Another minor problem in the sentence is the missing article for "cucumber".

After all these fixes, your sentence should read as follows:

Though Jerry was too shy, he walked out on stage as cool as a cucumber and sang like he had been doing it all his life.

Note that claiming "Jerry was too shy" does not at all imply that he is no longer shy. Rather, all we're saying is that during that point in time, he was shy.

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  • This is not an incongruity. Both is and was work in this sentence. This is one of the cases where backshifting is optional. Jun 9, 2017 at 18:58
  • Hmm, interesting. For some reason, I have trouble reading the introductory clause in the present tense. Though I guess if you interpret it as a conclusion about Jerry's personality in general as opposed to a remark about his feelings at a particular point in time, it makes sense, and I can now see why backshifting is optional. It seems to me it reads more as "Though Jerry is a shy person, there was this one instance in time when he wasn't...". I stand corrected; thank you for pointing this out. Jun 9, 2017 at 19:57
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"too shy" is grammatically incorrect, since "too" requires a "something" by way of comparison or action. In colloquial speech it's OK to use it that way, but not in a formal setting. I would recommend "very shy" instead.

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    He was too shy to dance. Jun 9, 2017 at 14:13
  • I have no idea what you mean by 'too' requires a 'something' by way of comparison or action unless it be, for instance, Though Jerry was too shy to do so, he walked on stage… Jun 10, 2017 at 19:41

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